45 Environment Conservation Journal

Diversity and distribution of Spider fauna (family- Araneidae) in and around

Katepurna Sanctuary, Akola, India

Milind V. Shirbhate and Amrita M. Shirbhate

Received: 15.06.2017 Revised: 02.08.2017 Accepted: 25.09.2017

Abstract A study on the diversity and distribution of spider fauna (Family- Araneidae) in and around the Katepurna Sanctuary,

Akola India was conducted during February 2015 to December 2016. A total 11 genus and 26 species of family Araenidae

(Arachnida: Araneae) were recorded. The generic diversity is in the order of Neoscona (9), Cyclosa (3), Larinia (3),

Cyrtophora (2), Eriovixia (2), Poltys (2), Araneus (1), Argiope (1), Chorizopes (1), Gasteracantha (1), Zygiella (1).

Keywords: Araneidae, Diversity and distribution, Katepurna, Sanctuary, Spider.

Introduction Orb-weaver spiders or araneids are members of the

spider family Araneidae. They are the most

common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped

webs often found in gardens, fields and forests.

Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny

legs and no stridulating organs.The family is

cosmopolitan, including many well-known large or

brightly coloured garden spiders. With around 3122

species in 172 genera worldwide (World Spider

Catalog) , Araneidae is the third-largest family of

spiders Araneid webs are constructed in a

stereotyped fashion.Spiders of protected areas in

India are studied by Gajbe (1995a) in Indravati

Tiger Reserve and recorded 13 species. Rane and

Singh (1977) recorded five species and Gajbe

(1995b) 14 species from Kanha Tiger Reserve,

Madhya Pradesh. Gajbe (2003) prepared a checklist

of 186 species of spiders in 69 genera under 24

families distributed in Madhya Pradesh and

Chhattisgarh. Patel (2003) described 91 species

belonging to 53 genera from Parabikulum Wildlife

Sanctuary, Kerala. Manju Silwal et al. (2003)

recorded 116 species from 66 genera and 25

families of spiders from Purna wildlife Sanctuary,

Dangs, Gujarat. Majumdar (2004a) studied about

Author’s Address 1 Department of Zoology, Shankarlal Khandelwal Arts, Science

and Commerce College, Akola (MS) 2 Department of Zoology, Mahatma Phule Arts and Science

College, Patur, Dist Akola (MS).

E-mail: milindshirbhate2912@gmail.com

the wolf spider of Sundarbans and described a new.

species Pardosa Koch (Majumdar, 2004b).

Sivaperuman et al., (2004) studied the spiders in

Desert National Park, Rajasthan. Bastawade (2004)

described arachnid fauna of orders Araneae,

Scorpionida and Solifugi from Melghat Tiger

Reserve, Amravati, Maharashtra State. Hippargi, et

al.( 2011b) reported occurrence of spiders from 19,

25, 31families from Lonar, Melghat and Southern

Tropical thorn forest, Solapur respectively. Uniyal

(2006) recorded a total of 19 species of spiders

belonging to 10 families from Indian-Trans

Himalayan region. Centre for Indian Knowledge

System, Chennai has also conducted ecological

studies of spiders in a cotton agro ecosystem of

Guindy National Park. De (2001) listed 19 species of spider from Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in his

management plan. Hore and Uniyal (2008a, 2008b)

worked on the spider assemblage and the diversity

and composition of spider assemblages in different

vegetation types in Terai Conservation Area (TCA).

Hore and Uniyal (2008) worked on spiders as

indicator species for monitoring of habitat

condition in TCA. Uniyal and Hore (2008) also

studied on the effect of prescribed fire on spider

assemblages in TCA. Biswas and Biswas (2004)

contributed significantly to spider diversity by

rendering comprehensive lists of new recorded

spider species from Manipur and West Bengal.

Siliwal, et al. (2005) prepared an updated Checklist

Environment Conservation Journal 18(3) 45-52, 2017

ISSN 0972-3099 (Print) 2278-5124 (Online)

Abstracted and Indexed

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46 Environment Conservation Journal

of Indian spider and provided taxonomic

reevaluation of described species, referred 1442

species belonging to 361 genera of 59 families from

the Indian Region. Of the 1442 species, 1002 were

endemic to the Indian mainland. Quasin and Uniyal

(2010) studied spider diversity from Kedarnath

wildlife Sanctuary. Sharma et. al. (2010) studied

Diversity and abundance of spider fauna of

Narmada river at Rajghat Barwani (M.P.) India.

Vairale and Vankhede (2010) reported 517 spider

species from Melghat Sanctuary. Meshram, (2011)

also worked on Spiders From Toranmal Sanctuary,

Maharashtra, India. Vyas, (2012) also reported 95

species from 60 genera and 24 families. Thereafter

Shirbhate and Vyas (2012) reported 23 species

from 10 genera of family Araneidae from middle

plains of Narmada basin (MP). The knowledge on

diversity and distribution of spiders in other

sanctuaries is sparse as compared to other

sanctuaries of the India listed above. Meshram

(2011) reported 117 spider species from Toranmal

Sanctuary. Spiders, are the least studied or

understood fauna in relation to conservation and

fragmentation of habitats in India. Hence, it was

felt to explore spider diversity in the Katepurna

Sanctuary.

Material and Methods Study area: The Katepurna Sanctuary in Akola,

Maharashtra is an exotic sanctuary dotted with an

abundance of flora and fauna. Positioned in Akola

district in Vidarbha region of the state of

Maharashtra, the sanctuary lies in close proximity

to the catchments area of Katepurna reservoir

(Mahan Dam). Its area is geographically located at -

20°25'0.54"N 77°10'50.14"E. The land vegetation

at Katepurna Sanctuary is southern tropical dry

deciduous forest. There are over 115 species of

plants at this sanctuary such as Bihada, Dhawada,

Moha, Tendu, Khair, Salai, Aola, Tendu, etc.

Katepurna Wildlife Sanctuary is renowned for the

four-horned antelope and barking deer. Other

animals that can see at the sanctuary include Black

buck, Leopard, Wolf, Wild boar, Hyaena, Hare,

Nilgai, Jungle cat and Monkeys. The Katepurna

water reservoir attracts many water birds. Spider

survey is carried out for ground spiders and spiders

along slow flowing shallow streams, spiders from

decaying barks of trees, from shrubs and crevices of

rocks.

Well established sampling protocols for spider

collection are adopted in different selected

sampling spots. The detailed descriptions of the

collection techniques are as follows-

(i) Sweep Netting – This sampling method is

applied to collect the foliage spiders from low level

vegetation of shrubs (up to 2 m in height). The

sweep net consists of a 90 cm handle; 40 cm ring

and the collection are poured on white canvas. The

net was emptied at regular intervals to avoid loss

and destruction of the specimen. During sampling

time sweep net was moved back and forth to cover

all ground layer herbs and shrubs till all vegetation

in the sampling plots were swept thoroughly.

(ii) Ground Hand Collecting – Ground Hand

collection involved the collection of spider samples

from ground to knee level. This method of

sampling is used to collect the spiders, which are

found to be visible in the ground, litter, in broken

logs, rocks etc.

(iii) Aerial Hand Collecting – Aerial Hand

collection involved the collection of spiders

samples from knee level to arm length level. This

method accessed web-building and free-living

spiders on the foliage and stems of living or dead

shrubs, high herbs, tree trunks etc.

(iv) Vegetation Beating: The method is employed

to accesses spiders living in the shrub, high herb

vegetation, bushes, and small trees and branches.

The spiders are collected by beating the vegetation

with a stick and collecting the samples on a cloth (1

m by 1.2 m).

(v) Litter sampling: Litter i.e. deciduate from the

ground was collected by hand and was put in a big

tray. Litter sampling involved sorting of spiders

from the litter collection tray.

With the above methods of collections the spiders

were collected and observed under stereo-zoom

binocular microscope (for small/tiny spiders)

wherever necessary in the field itself. Later all the

spiders were photographed by Canon 60 D with

macro lens in their natural habitat (Specimens were

not collected - as per the directions by Office of the

Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director,

Melghat Tiger Reserve, Camp, Amravati , Office of

the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (HOFF)

Maharashtra state, Nagpur and Maharashtra State

Biodiversity Board, Nagpur.)

Shirbhate and Shirbhate

47 Environment Conservation Journal

Fig.- 1. Photograph showing the generic diversity of family Araneidae from Katepurna Sanctuary, Akola

(Maharashtra, India).

Araneus ellipticus Argiope aemula

Chorizopes bengalensis Cyclosa bifida

Cyclosa hexatuberculata Cyclosa insulana

Cyrtophora cicatrosa Cyrtophora citricola

Diversity and distribution of Spider fauna

48 Environment Conservation Journal

Eriovixia excelsa Eriovixia laglaizei

Gasteracantha cancriformis Larinia chloris

Larinia argiopiformis Larinia lineata

Neoscona adianta Neoscona bengalensis

Shirbhate and Shirbhate

49 Environment Conservation Journal

Neoscona crucifera Neoscona mukerjei Tikader

Neoscona nautica Neoscona punctigera

Neoscona subfusca Neoscona theisi

Neoscona vigilans Poltys nagpurensis

Diversity and distribution of Spider fauna

50 Environment Conservation Journal

Fig. 2- Generic Diversity of Family Araneidae in Katepurna Sanctuary Akola, India

Results and Discussion During the present study A total 11 genus and 26

species of family Araenidae (Arachnida: Araneae)

were recorded from the study area during February

2015 to December 2016. (Table -1). Neoscona was the numerically predominant genus having 9

species (34.61%), followed by Cyclosa (11.53%), Larinia (11.53%), Cyrtophora (7.69%), Eriovixia (7.69%), Poltys (7.69%), Araneus (3.84%), Argiope (3.84%),), Chorizopes (3.84%), Gasteracantha (3.84%), and Zygiella (3.84%). The actual photographs and percent occurrence of spiders from

study area are given in Fig. 1 & Fig. 2. Most of the

araneids are found on shrubs, herbs, tall trees,

crevices etc. In Neoscona abdominal variations are

noted with respect to colour patterns.

The genus poltys is found on humps of tall trees.

Gasteracantha on Lantana camera shrub during rainy season and genus Larinia on back side of leaves of Lantana camera.Earlier no work has been carried out in Katepurna sanctuary for spider

diversity specially on family Araneidae, and this is

the first report. During the present survey it is

found that the diversity of genera is more around

riparian habitats than that in the grassland. Season

wise, maximum number of genera is recorded from

September to December.Thus Katepurna contains

various habitats with a rich spider fauna specially

for Araneids.

34.61%

11.53% 11.53%

7.69% 7.69% 7.69%

3.84% 3.84% 3.84% 3.84% 3.84%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Poltys illepidus Zygiella indica

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51 Environment Conservation Journal

Table-1: Spider genera and species of family

Araneidae from Katepurna Sanctuary Akola

(Maharashtra, India) during 2015-2016. S.

No.

Genus and Species

1. Araneus ellipticus Tikader & Bal, 1981 Female

2. Argiope aemula Walckenaer, 1842 Female

3. Chorizopes bengalensis Tikader, 1975 Female

4. Cyclosa bifida Doleschall, 1859 Male, Female

5. Cyclosa hexatuberculata Tikader, 1982 Female

6. Cyclosa insulana (Costa 1834) Female

7. Cyrtophora cicatrosa Stoliczka, 1869 Female

8. Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775) Female

9. Eriovixia excelsa Simon 1889 Female

10. Eriovixia laglaizei Simon, 1877 Female

11. Gasteracantha cancriformis Female

12. Larinia chloris Audoin, 1825 Female

13. Larinia argiopiformis Female

14. Larinia lineate Female

15. Neoscona adianta Female

16. Neoscona bengalensis Female

17. Neoscona crucifera Female

18. Neoscona mukerjei Tikader, 1980 Female

19. Neoscona nautica L. Koch, 1875 Female

20. Neoscona punctigera, Male , Female

21. Neoscona subfusca (C. L. Koch, 1837) Female

22. Neoscona theisi Walckenaer, 1842 Female

23. Neoscona vigilans Blackwall, 1865 Female

24. Poltys nagpurensis Tikader, 1982 Female

25. Poltys illepidus C. L. Koch, 1843 Female

26. Zygiella indica Tikader & Bal, 1980 Male, Female

Acknowledgement Authors are very much thankful to University

Grants Commission New Delhi & WRO- Pune for

providing the research grants. Also thankful to

Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Melghat

Tiger Project, Amravati. Office & Field staff of the

Katepurna Wildlife Sanctuary, Akola and

Maharashtra State Biodiversity Board, Nagpur for

permission to do this work on spiders.

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Shirbhate and Shirbhate